Workshops

What to expect on the Workshop?

The Trauma Survivors Workshop is divided into three phases:

Day 1 (Informational Phase): Participants are introduced to the concept of boundaries through a series of topic group discussions, focusing on the effects that childhood boundary violations have on adult behaviours. The impact of the significant relationship between child and adult, as perceived by the child, is emphasised without assigning blame to parents or caregivers.

Day 2 (Debriefing Phase): Participants explore the less-than-nurturing and/or abusive recollected childhood experiences with an emphasis and concentration on identifying the feelings connected to those experiences.

Day 3 (Experiential Phase): Participants re-examine their childhood relationships in a safe and nurturing environment. This is achieved using Pia Mellody’s techniques for addressing childhood relational trauma. This phase typically serves to release painful emotions, with participants starting the process of reclaiming a sense of personal empowerment and their rights.

The Trauma Survivors 3 Day Workshop examines the geneses of adult dysfunctional behaviours. It explores early childhood issues that have resulted in addictions (substance and behavioural) depression, eating disorders and difficult relationships. Participants learn to recognise and focus on family-of-origin experiences that occurred during the time of birth up until 17 years of age. The principal focus of the workshop is learning to manage the emotions that typically accompany less-than-nurturing past events and then working to resolve the consequential sorrow and grief. The programme enables the individual to resolve some of the grief, shame and anguish of their early traumatic experiences. This allows the individual to participate and function more fully with self and others. It also renders the participant able to identify when they have a trauma response/reaction in everyday life, and how to manage it.

This programme has been developed to deal with traumatic childhood issues which create co-dependence. The roots of codependence are lodged in childhood and its primary feature is “abandonment of self”, which means adapting ourselves to fit in with others. The rules in a dysfunctional, co-dependent family are: “Don’t talk”, “Don’t feel”, “Don’t trust”.

As a result, co-dependents do not know who they are, or what they feel. In co-dependent families, children can’t be children. They are taught to temper their natural selves to accommodate dysfunctional adults. The resulting defeating self-talk is often “there’s something wrong with me”, “it’s all my fault”, I don’t fit in”.

Ultimately, a co-dependent is trying to heal the wounds of childhood in present day life. These wounds are the effects of abuse on the developing self.

We very often recreate our family of origin in other relationships: partners, friends, workplace, where we try to unconsciously change the person(s) we are in a relationship with to become the parent who didn’t fulfil our needs. We often choose partners who resemble one of our parents – either abandoning or enmeshing – and the pattern is replicated so we are in a similar situation. It is only when we work on and have a good relationship with ourselves that we can make healthier choices, or change the situation we are in. The more we fulfil our own needs, the less we need others to fill the void of unmet needs in childhood.

This weekend programme can play a significant part in letting go of childhood trauma, carried energy that doesn’t belong to us (e.g. shame, anger, guilt and pain) and enable us to re-parent ourselves so that we are not always searching outside of ourselves.

This treatment can also have a significant effect on reducing depression and crucially help to prevent relapse into addiction, if it is present.

NOTE: Potential participants for this programme are required to undertake a clinical assessment with Nicky Walton-Flynn or Alistair Richardson in order to determine suitability. If you are in recovery from addiction, a minimum of 28 days abstinence is required in order for you to participate in this programme. You are required to be in regular 1/2/1 face to face therapy to attend this workshop.

TRAVEL and ACCOMMODATION:

If you are travelling from outside London, we request that you do not book and pay for your travel and accommodation until 5 days before our workshop as dates can be subject to changes and cancellations. We cannot be held responsible for fees incurred if booked 5 days prior to the workshop date. If the workshop is cancelled less than 5 days before it scheduled to take place, TraumaSurvivorsUK will honour travel costs incurred.

If you are interested in the content of this workshop but not in regular therapy or recovery check out our 3 day Wellness Retreats which introduce and include some of the concepts offered on the TraumaSurvivors Workshops.